Scarborough Borough Council has turned down an offer to take over the St Hilda's Business Centre at Whitby.
North Yorkshire County Council which owns the centre at The Ropery had asked the authority to consider the idea but it has been rejected after councillors were told that the council would be liable for any losses and funding which would be needed to run the complex.
The centre was formerly a hospital and was saved from demolition by an entrepreneur in the 1980s and converted into a complex of low-cost workshops and offices for new businesses, before it was taken over by the county council.
In a joint report to councillors, chief executive John Trebble and technical services director Derek Rowell said the borough council was already involved in many commitments to boost the Whitby area economy and accommodation was not a priority.
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